7 Jeep Gladiator Features Owners Hate

ByKern Campbell

The new 2020 Jeep Gladiator has taken the mid-sized truck market by storm. They were launched this year with great fanfare and for good reason. The Gladiator truck offers many features never seen before in the mid-sized truck market.

However, not everything about the Jeep Gladiator truck is perfect. As I have been researching the Jeep Gladiator, owners do have some gripes that Jeep designers might want to take under consideration for future iterations of their Jeep Gladiator truck models.

Here’s what Jeep Gladiator truck owners have to say…

7 Jeep Gladiator Features Owners Hate

  • Auto Park Feature – From my research, the Jeep Auto Park Feature is probably the most hated feature of all on the Jeep Gladiator. If you push the start button and then step on the brake, auto park engages. If you start, then open the door and then shift into gear, auto park engages. Owners talk about having to turn off the Jeep and start all over even though the display tells them to shift into park and then back to drive. Some will argue this is not a big deal, just close your door, but in the event, you are backing up to a trailer or launching a boat, you may need to get in and out of the Jeep multiple times to check where you are. This gets really annoying when you are only backing an inch or two at a time and it is easier to just leave the door open.
  • The Seats – The seats are terrible when compared to almost any competitor. The manually controlled seats offer no tilt feature. For the price tag of these Gladiators, you would expect the seat to adjust in multiple ways to help accommodate drivers of all sizes. A tall driver may have a hard getting comfortable due to the lack of support for their legs. This is all due to the lack of a tilt feature in the seat.
  • Steering Wheel Controls for the Dash Display – The buttons that control the dash display are counter-intuitive. You press the down button and the menu goes up. If you press the up button the menu goes down.
  • Inner Fender Liners – The liners are getting ripped off running down the road. They are cheap and flimsy. I assume this is something Jeep will need to correct going forward.
  • Side View Mirrors – The side view mirrors are identical to those on the new JL Wrangler. For a truck that is designed to tow trailers, campers, and boats, these mirrors are not adequate for seeing your Jeep, the lane beside you and keeping an eye on your trailer. Jeep may want to consider a new design for the Jeep Gladiator side view mirrors.
  • Rear Tail Light Design – This may be a subjective item on the list, but it seems a lot of people do not care for the rear taillight design. Instead of being seamlessly integrated into the body, they look like they are pods that are simply stuck to the side of the truck bed.
  • Trailer Brake Controller – This feature is hated because it does not exist. As of the time of this article, Jeep has not produced a Gladiator with a trailer brake controller. Many competitors like the Chevy Colorado have had them for years. The trailer brake controller is a feature owners who want to tow with their Gladiator will want to have as part of the max towing package. Clearly Jeep knows they are in the wrong here because they have it listed on their website, but they are not selling it.

Closing Thoughts

I purposely chose to publish the list of 7 Features Jeep Gladiators Hate about their vehicles first, because there is so much to like about the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator.

Be sure to check out the 9 Features Jeep Gladiators Love about their vehicles!

You didn’t think I was only going to post the negatives, did you? Also, notice there are 9 positives to 7 negatives. That’s pretty good for a brand new vehicle. I know Jeep will continue to perfect the Jeep Gladiator as time goes along.

Bonus Tip: If you are looking to buy a new Jeep Gladiator, be sure to follow my guide to getting the best deal on a new Jeep. The headline says Wrangler, but it works for multiple Jeep models. I am confident this buying guide will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars when buying a new Jeep vehicle!